ESG - Women's hockey
Late Long Island goal dashes hopes for silver
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter

East Amherst's Kelsey Welch, right, makes a move past a Adirondack player during the Western women's scholastic hockey team's 3-1 loss on Thursday. Western ended up taking a bronze medal. Photo by Marc A. Deley Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The veterans of Western's scholastic women's hockey team completed their variety pack of medals with their performance at last week's 30th annual Empire State Games, though it wasn't exactly the finish they were anticipating.

Western earned a bronze medal with its 3-2 record, missing out on the silver thanks to a last-minute goal by Long Island in Sunday's 5-4 loss at the Playland Ice Casino in Rye.

Brittany Skudder picked the worst time for Western to cap her hat trick, scoring with just 1:20 to play in regulation to give Long Island the lead for good. Western, which had trailed 3-1 in the second after Long Island's three-goal outburst, knotted the game at 3-3 going into the third period as East Amherst's Kelsey Welch scored one of the goals and assisted on the other. Snyder's Grace Waters assisted on both goals.

Western, which actually led 1-0 when Orchard Park's Maggie Giamo scored just 45 seconds into the game, reclaimed the lead with 8:53 to play in regulation when Abby Runyon scored off assists from Giamo and Cheektowaga's Pam Zgoda. Long Island retied the game at 4-4 just two minutes later, setting the stage for Skudder's heroics.

East Amherst's Kim Sass turned aside 28 of the 33 shots she faced in net.

"It was an unfortunate end to the game because we had come back from a two-goal deficit," coach Kristin Steele said. "That was a real test of what this team was able to do. It was definitely a bummer to lose it in the end, though."

Western suffered a blow to its golden chances right off the bat, drawing perennial powerhouse Adirondack for Thursday's opening game and falling, 3-1. Adirondack entered the game seeking revenge for being knocked out of medal contention last year by Western, but neither team was able to get on the scoreboard until early in the second period. Adirondack posted a pair of goals six minutes apart in the middle frame, then held Western in check until Zgoda assisted on Western's lone goal late in the third that broke the shutout bid.

Sass finished the game with 32 saves on 35 shots.

"That's definitely a game we'd like to have had later in the tournament, but with the round robin format based on how you did the year before, there's really nothing we can do about it," Steele said.

"They had a couple of real superstars this year, but even when they don't have any name players, they play well together as a group. That's the key in such a short tournament like this."

Western bounced back the next day with a 5-1 victory over Hudson Valley. Waters scored off an assist from Welch with just two seconds to play before the end of the first period, and Erica Owczarczak put West ahead for good, off a pass from Clarence's Jacquie Greco, with about five minutes to play in the second period.

Zgoda added a goal in the third period, while Owczarczak, Giamo and Waters all had an assist during the game.

Western then posted a 6-0 shutout over Central in the early game of Saturday's doubleheader, with Sass recording just seven saves in net. Rochester's Bryana Minnick scored the only goal Western would need at the 8:10 mark of the first period, but fellow Rochester resident Jillian Cardella added on a hat trick for good measure.

Welch recorded Western's final goal and also had an assist, as did Waters.

In the second game, Western thumped New York City, 7-1, as Owczarczak scored the game winner halfway through the first period off a pass from Greco. Owczarczak scored another goal as well, while Giamo and West Seneca's Brigitte Cellino each added an assist.

With the bronze, Western has now won medals every year since the sport began being offered in 1999. Giamo, Cellino, Zgoda, Owczarczak, Sass and Waters have all been with the team for the last three summers, winning silver last year and gold two years ago.

"That group has been together for a long time," Steele said. "They did a really good job of handling the team and making sure the younger kids understood their roles for the future."

e-mail: jnadolinski@beenews.com